The True meaning of Selflessness
by Gemini14
Summary: My first Slayers fic, so please be kind! Gourry is wounded protecting Lina, and now needs a healer to survive! Emotions run strongly as vows are tested to their limits. Will this experience tear Gourry and Lina apart, or will it bring them closer together


The True meaning of Selflessness

Lina stood frozen, unable to move. Her opponent had just used a freeze spell on her and Zelgadis, and Gourry had been knocked out of battle. 

"So, the great Lina Inverse has finally met her match! Prepare to die!" the mage said, sending an enchanted dagger flying at her. Zelgadis struggled to free himself, but the spell held him fast, despite his inhuman strength. Lina winced and closed her eyes, waiting for the end. Five minutes passed, and nothing happened. Ten, then twenty, still nothing. 

"_Huh? Why am I not dead?_" Lina wondered, then opened her eyes. She gasped when she saw Gourry standing in front of her, his back to her as he shielded her from the danger.

"Gourry………….." Lina murmured, shocked, then found that the freeze spell had just released its hold on her and Zelgadis. With a sneer, Lina came out from behind Gourry and finished the mage off. She then turned and looked at Gourry. At first, everything looked normal about the dimwitted swordsman, then she saw that blood was dripping from a deep gash in his abdomen. 

"Gourry!" Lina yelped, as the swordsman put a hand over the wound and smiled painfully at her.

"You idiot! Didn't you know that that dagger was enchanted?!" Lina asked, furiously. Gourry nodded.

"But it was all I could do to protect you. Hikari no Ken…………..I don't know where it ended up…………." Gourry murmured, as he fell to his knees, managing to at least keep from falling on Lina this time. 

"Gourry…………..Lina murmured, as she kneeled before him and looked at the wound. The gash was all Lina needed to see in order to know that the dagger had gone halfway through Gourry's abdomen before stopping and vanishing. 

"It looks bad, Gourry. Lina, he will need a professional healer in order to keep from bleeding to death. I am not certain, but I think there is one in the next town." Zelgadis said, as he tore a strip from his traveling cloak and bound it firmly around Gourry's waist. 

"But the next town is at least twenty miles away! The way Gourry is now, I don't think he'll make it." Lina said, softly, immediately troubled by the situation. 

"Don't…………….don't worry about me…………I can take it." Gourry said, from between clenched teeth, as he forced himself to his feet. 

"Don't push yourself, you idiot! You'll only make the bleeding worse!" Lina shouted, halfheartedly. She knew Gourry was trying his best to be brave, but it scared her to think that her friend could die because of his own stubbornness. Then she thought back to a time when she had been hurt, and how he'd doggedly carried her to the next town. Now he was the one who was wounded and needed help. 

"Hang in there, Gourry." Lina murmured, as they started walking. After a while, Lina remembered that they had left the Hikari no Ken behind and asked Zelgadis to go back for it. Since it was already dusk, Lina set up camp, so Zelgadis could catch up with them. Gourry had taken a seat with his back against the flat side of a boulder. Near him was a stream and the edge of a forest. When she'd finished with the camp, Lina turned her attention to Gourry. 

"_He looks like he's in so much pain, but he isn't saying anything about it. Could it be that he doesn't want me to worry about him?_" Lina wondered, as she got a rag out of her pack, dipped it in the stream, and then wiped Gourry's brow with it. Briefly, Gourry opened his eyes and looked at her, a small smile curling the corners of his mouth. 

"Don't worry, I'm all right." Gourry murmured, his eyes shining with pain and a hint of fever.

"I don't believe you. You're obviously in a great deal of pain right now." Lina replied. 

"Why would you care? All you want is the Hikari no Ken. Why should I matter to you?" Gourry asked, bitterly. Lina sat back in surprise; she'd never heard that tone of voice from Gourry before!

"Gourry…………." Lina trailed off when he looked away from her and back at the path.

"It sounds like Zel is back. Go and greet him, he has what you want." Gourry said, the bitterness easily heard in his voice. 

"You jerk." Lina muttered, as she went to greet Zelgadis and tell him of what had been said. 

"You shouldn't be surprised, Lina. You have been hounding him about that sword for some time now." Zelgadis said, after he'd heard what Lina had to tell him. 

"But I thought he was too dense to think that sort of thing!" Lina said.

"He may make you think that he is dense, but there are some things he knows about. Matters of the heart are the things he knows the most about. He must have cared a lot for you, otherwise he wouldn't have put himself into such a dangerous situation." Zelgadis said, wisely. 

"So Gourry isn't as shallow as he originally had me think?" Lina asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. That is something you and Gourry are going to have to work out between yourselves. By the way, did you check and see how the bandage was holding up?" Zelgadis asked, as he stood up. 

"No, I didn't." Lina replied. Zelgadis sighed and shook his head.

"Lina Inverse……….." Zelgadis muttered, before walking over to Gourry to check the wound. Lina watched as Zelgadis approached Gourry and listened as they started talking in low tones. When Zelgadis returned, his expression was grave.

"He's still bleeding." Lina said, not needing to ask what was wrong.

"Yes, but it is not enough to make him die overnight. He's bleeding just enough to make dying painful. He could last another few days at this rate." Zelgadis said, grimly.

"Would it be long enough to reach a town?" Lina asked.

"I don't know. I hope so." Zelgadis replied, as he and Lina settled in for an uneasy night. 

The next morning, Lina awoke bright and early. Normally, she would have slept in till noon, but she was far too worried about Gourry to sleep well. With silent steps, she moved past a still dozing Zelgadis and kneeled before Gourry again. He was pale and very withdrawn, his breaths were shallow and uneven, and he had an arm wrapped around his waist.

"_Poor Gourry._" Lina thought, as she watched him sleep. After a few moments, Gourry opened his eyes again and looked bewilderingly at Lina.

"Lina?" Gourry asked, painfully.

"Shh. Don't try to speak. Just rest up for a little bit longer. We'll leave when you're ready." Lina said, keeping her voice low. Gourry nodded, before giving himself over to sleep again. 

"_He's getting weaker._" Lina thought, watching as a breeze moved the swordsman's limp blond bangs just slightly. 

"It doesn't look good." Zelgadis said, from his place near the now burnt out campfire. 

"No, it doesn't." Lina agreed.

"The first bandage I put on there was soaked all the way through last night. It looks like the replacement is almost the same way now. We need to find a town soon, or he will die." Zelgadis said, calmly, looking up when the sound of hooves and creaking wooden wheels came to his sensitive ears.

"A cart is coming this way. Let's see if we can get a ride to the nearest town." Zelgadis said, as the cart neared their location. When the cart owner agreed to let them ride, Lina was very relieved. It meant that Gourry wouldn't have to walk the distance between them and the town. 

"Sir, I have a question." Lina said, politely.

"Go ahead, say on." The cart owner said, curious as to what the question could be.

"Is there a healer in the next town? Our friend here is in desperate need of one." Lina said.

"There should be. I seem to remember there being a healer in town." The cart owner said. The ride to the town was bumpy and unpleasant. Lina watched as Gourry struggled to keep from getting thrown out of the cart and endure the pain at the same time. Every time the cart's wheels hit a root or deep cleft in the road, Gourry's grip on the cart's side hardened. Finally, they arrived in their destination.

"That had to be the roughest ride I've ever been on!" Lina said, as she and Zelgadis got down, then watched as Gourry slowly moved to join them. 

"Sorry about that. The road we took has to be the worst in this country. Well, I hope your friend is feeling better soon." The cart owner said, as he lightly flicked the reins and drove off. 

"Lina, I am going to go and find an inn. You stay here with Gourry. I should be back in a few minutes." Zelgadis said, before walking off. Lina sighed and looked up at Gourry. He was paler than what he had been earlier. 

"Gourry?" Lina asked. He looked down at her, his eyes glazed with pain. She immediately felt guilt wash over her; he'd been hurt because of her! 

"Gourry, Zelgadis has gone to look for a place to stay till your wound heals. Do you feel like eating anything?" Lina asked. Gourry shook his head.

"I'm not hungry. It's strange, isn't it? For once I am not hungry……….." Gourry said, softly, with a low, mirthless laugh.

"That's because you're in pain." Lina said, noticing when a slight shudder traveled through Gourry's frame. It was then that Zelgadis reappeared.

"There is an inn not too far from here. I managed to get rooms on the ground floor. Gourry, do you think you can walk?" Zelgadis asked, as he looked at the rapidly weakening swordsman.

"I think so." Gourry replied, in a voice so soft that even Zelgadis had to strain his ears to hear him. 

"All right, come this way." Zelgadis said, as he led the way. Despite the pain he was obviously in, Gourry walked to the inn without any assistance. But, the moment they made it to the room they were going to be sharing, Gourry again fell to his knees, and this time did not have the strength to get back up.

"Come on, Gourry. Don't give up now." Zelgadis said, as he helped Gourry get back on his feet again for the short walk to the bed. When Gourry was settled, Zelgadis immediately left to find the healer, leaving Lina alone with Gourry for the third time in their journey. For the first time in her life, Lina was scared. There was Gourry, the strongman of the group, now as weak as a newborn kitten and enduring agony he should never have felt to begin with.

"I'm sorry, Gourry……….I'm so sorry………." Lina whispered, gasping when she felt a hand on her face. 

"Don't be………………..It's all right…………….I promised I would take care of you……..and I will keep that promise…………even if I should die." Gourry whispered, his crystalline blue eyes sparkling with pain and a flood of emotions. 

"You idiot………" Lina sobbed, as tears came unbidden to her eyes.

"Tears………?" Gourry asked, surprised by Lina's show of emotion.

"Yeah! Of course they're tears! I don't want you to die, Gourry! If you died, a piece of my soul would go with you!" Lina shouted, as the tears she'd been holding back flowed freely down her face. At first, Gourry looked stunned, then a gentle smile took over his features, making him look so much wiser than he really was.

"Then I make this promise; I will not die. I'll live through this, so long as I can travel with you." Gourry said, softly.

"You'd better. Otherwise, I'll never forgive you if you die on me." Lina said, regaining some of her usual flamboyance. Gourry smiled again, his hand still on Lina's face. The moment was brought to an end when Zelgadis returned with the healer in tow. The healer was a woman that looked to be in mid to late forties, with long auburn hair that was pulled up into a rather disheveled bun. The simple blue dress she wore symbolized her position. 

"Can you heal him?" Lina asked. The woman nodded.

"Just tell me what kind of wound this is." The healer replied, as she carefully lifted the makeshift bandages away from the wound, while Gourry grimaced.

"It was caused by an enchanted dagger. Do you think you can heal a wound like that?" Lina asked.

"It will be tough, considering the magic in the dagger is what is keeping the blood from clotting. I will do my best." The healer said, quietly, as she gazed at Gourry with a grave look in her eyes. 

"Do you want us to leave the room, then?" Lina asked, as she and Zelgadis started to leave.

"I would rather that you remain, young lady. It seems that he is the most calm around you. It would be for his good that you stay; the healing of a wound like this can be just as painful as receiving it." The healer said, as she motioned for Lina to have a seat near Gourry.

"Shall I remain as well?" Zelgadis asked, looking to Lina, then to the healer for a yea or a nay. 

"If you want to. You can stay, or you can leave; it's your choice." The healer said, as she turned her attention back to Gourry and began her work. The moment the healer lowered her hands to Gourry's wound and when her healing energy started to flow into him, Gourry uttered a low moan that slowly became an agonized scream. 

"Gourry!" Lina yelped, as she grasped one of his hands in both of hers in an effort to calm him. Zelgadis was at the bedside in a heartbeat, helping to hold Gourry down as the healer worked. After a while, Gourry's screams of pain subsided, leaving him gasping for air, while the healer sat back, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"Well? Did you get magic out of the wound?" Lina asked, relieved that the whole thing was over with.

"Yes, but I am completely exhausted. I will have to return in a few days to finish up with the wound itself. It should stop bleeding now, since the magic isn't there to keep the blood from clotting. Until I return, keep his wound wrapped in bandages, clean it every twelve hours, and make sure he doesn't do any moving around. See you later." The healer said, as she walked out of the room, leaving Lina and Zelgadis with the task (and the bandages and salves needed) of bandaging Gourry's wound. 

"Gourry? Are you all right?" Lina asked, as she gently brushed some strands of blond hair off of his face.

"It hurts……….." Gourry whispered, hoarse from all the screaming he'd done.

"I know, but at least now you won't be losing any more blood." Lina said, as Zelgadis brought the washbasin over and poured some cold water into the bowl for Lina to dip a rag in. 

"That's good." Gourry murmured, before drifting into exhausted slumber.

"Lina, do you want anything to eat?" Zelgadis asked, as he prepared to leave the room and go to the kitchen for some food.

"Yeah, but would you mind bringing the food here? I don't want to leave Gourry here by himself." Lina said, quietly, so she wouldn't wake Gourry up. Zelgadis nodded, and silently disappeared from the room. Lina sighed, she couldn't believe Gourry had done that for her.

"_It could have been me lying on that bed, and Gourry would have never left my side. It seems that the roles have been reversed this time._" Lina thought, before Zelgadis returned with the food.

When morning came again, Gourry was awakened by Lina wolfing down some food.

"Mornin' Gourry!" Lina said, from around a huge piece of food.

"Mornin'." Gourry replied, tiredly.

"How do you feel?" Lina asked, after she'd swallowed the food.

"Tired and weak." Gourry replied, then winced.

"And in a little pain." Gourry added, looking up as Zelgadis muttered something under his breath about Lina's eating habits. Lina reacted quickly to the insult by promptly giving Zelgadis a nice headache to think about. Gourry, for once, kept his mouth shut. 

"Gourry, how do you feel otherwise?" Lina asked, while Zelgadis sat where he was and rubbed the sore spot on his head. Gourry appeared to think it over, then he smiled at her.

"Glad to be alive." Gourry replied, warmly.

"So am I, more than you could ever realize." Lina murmured, softly, so neither Gourry or Zelgadis could hear her. 

~Owari~


End file.
